Cassell Still Sidelined, But Hopes To Return For AAC Tourney

MEMPHIS – It has become a familiar scene. The Huskies file into their hotel and Sam Cassell Jr. is on crutches.

Cassell has been out since Jan. 25 with a stress fracture in his right leg, the tibia, but the injury was affecting him long before that.

"I was playing with it," he said as UConn arrived in Memphis. "I didn't know what it was. At first I thought it was something I could play through, which I could. But then after a while, it started killing me. … I couldn't play to my abilities."

Cassell, a redshirt sophomore, a junior college transfer, was UConn's leading scorer in exhibition games, but during the regular season he averaged 15.1 minutes through 18 games, averaging 3.9 points, shooting just 27.6 percent from the floor. UConn shut down Cassell before the Jan. 29 game at Cincinnati to let the fracture heal, but it has been slow.

"When I try to work out, get on the bike or something, the next day it will still be swollen," Cassell said. "But the pain is getting much better, I don't feel as much pain as I used to feel."

John Woike / Hartford Courant

UConn guard Sam Cassell Jr., right, shown in a Feb. 4 file photo, has been out since Jan. 25 with a stress fracture in his right leg.

UConn guard Sam Cassell Jr., right, shown in a Feb. 4 file photo, has been out since Jan. 25 with a stress fracture in his right leg. (John Woike / Hartford Courant)

Next week UConn's medical staff will take an X-Ray to see how the fracture is healing.

"That'll be four weeks," coach Kevin Ollie said. "We'll see where the hairline fracture is going and make a decision after that. The swelling and inflammation is down, but the [X-Ray] will tell us if it's healing the correct way."

Cassell hopes to be back in time to play in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, which begins March 12 and will likely define UConn's season. That would be the best-case scenario.

MEMPHIS — The Huskies were down 13, getting hurt inside and out. And then they saw their captain on the floor, bleeding from the mouth.

Ryan Boatright, a tooth knocked loose, spent six minutes in the locker room as the Huskies fought without him. It proved to be a losing fight, Memphis holding...

MEMPHIS — The Huskies were down 13, getting hurt inside and out. And then they saw their captain on the floor, bleeding from the mouth.

Ryan Boatright, a tooth knocked loose, spent six minutes in the locker room as the Huskies fought without him. It proved to be a losing fight, Memphis holding...

(DOM AMORE)

"That's what I'm hoping for," Cassell said. "They're saying another three weeks, four weeks. I'm hoping it will be sooner than that because I want to get back out there with my teammates."

Mahorn On The Call

Rick Mahorn, who played at Weaver High in the 1970s and went on to a 19-year career in the NBA, was courtside at the game as an analyst for Compass Media Networks, a division of Westwood One radio.

Mahorn, 56, has been working for the network for about four years, in between his primary job as analyst on Pistons broadcasts in Detroit, where he watches former Huskies Andre Drummond and Caron Butler perform.

"[Drummond] is a freakish athlete," Mahorn said. "He's developing into an offensive rebounding juggernaut. He has six rebounds on his plate before he even gets to the court. Tremendous upside."

Butler, in his 13th NBA season, is bringing veteran presence to the young Pistons.

"I love Caron, known him for years," Mahorn said. "He's supplying that stability, that leadership. He was a great pickup for us."

Mahorn's family still lives in Hartford and he gets back frequently.

Guest Appearances

At Southern Methodist, Ollie put Dan Guest into the game with nearly two minutes remaining. Guest, a walk-on from West Hartford and The Master's School, scored a basket in the final minute against Tulsa in the previous game.

"He has been playing very, very well in practice, putting pressure on our defense, breaking our guards down, getting in the thick of the defense," Ollie said. " When it comes down to it, I may throw him in there for a couple of minutes to make some plays, you never know." Guest, 6-2, averaged 4.3 minutes at George Washington in 2011-12 before transferring to UConn. … Former Northwest Catholic-West Hartford standout Kuran Iverson transferred from Memphis, where he was suspended in mid-January for violating team rules, and has enrolled at Rhode Island. … Coming into the game Thursday, Memphis was 7-3 against defending national champs, including 4-0 at home.